Thursday, April 15, 2010

CEOs: "Real" iPad Research - A Model for You, too

Apple's Stock Price: A Key Metric for Evaluating the iPad's Launch

When Apple and Steve Jobs announce something new...people are quick to share their opinions. Including me.

Such is the case with the iPad's recent launch. But was the launch successful and how would you know - reading newsclips, blogs, tracking sales estimates and monitoring reviews? Those are legitimate metrics.

Here's another fast, powerful way to evaluate the market acceptance of an announcement...and your company: Analyze your stock chart. This fits with an old, business adage, "The charts don't lie."

In Apple's case (NASDAQ: AAPL) the stock is up almost $50 since the unveiling of the iPad. That's significant. I'm not saying that the stock will remain ballistic. I am noting that key market research is in from the big institutions, hedge funds and large investors that "move" stocks. And according to the stock chart, Apple management and its products, including the iPad, earned widespread market confidence. In a nutshell, the investing whales voted with their money...and the vote is two-thumbs up. That is important and available information.

Question: How does your PR or Marketing firm measure success for your campaigns...can they read a stock chart and use it to help evaluate your reputation, business and ROI? Few can. "That's something for Wall Street analysts," they might say. I disagree. Stock charts are a metric available to all - and it is real information, and can be followed minute-by-minute.

I track stock charts all the time. They are part of my "toolkit" for measuring success and sizing up your reputation.

Short of that, there are other types of market research and reputation management. Enjoy this one:

The Bottom Line:
Just because analyzing a stock chart may be difficult is not a reason to leave the information it displays out of your set of reputation-management metrics. Why leave research to the dogs...err...cats.